Cumulative Test: Monday June 7th 75 Multiple Choice QuestionsChapter 1 Review: 1.1 Crossing to the Americas: - Archaeologists, scientists who study the objects (artifacts) that past societies have left behind, help us understand how the first people arrived in America. - The first Americans migrated from Asia by crossing a land bridge called the Beringia that connected Asia to North America.
- New societies in America developed their own culture, a way of life shared by people with similar beliefs and customs.
- Societies learned how to domesticate plants and animals, breeding them to meet human needs.
- As people became better at planting new crops, they could create permanent villages. These villages eventually grew into larger civilizations, complex cultures that meet five key conditions: o They have cities where trading takes place o They keep records o People have different specialized jobs o Government and religion are organized o People use advanced tools
- Villages used underground canals to bring water to crops that were hundreds of miles away from the nearest river, a process known as irrigation.
- Different villages came together to trade crops and other objects. As a result, societies were exposed to various different cultures. 1.2 Societies of North America: - By the year 1500, there were hundreds of different cultures and thousands of languages in North America.
- Each cultural group created new technology: tools and knowledge that helped them adapt to their environment.
- Some groups lived on the coasts of Alaska, where open areas known as tundra remain covered in snow and ice for most of the year.
- These groups used small boats known as kayaks to paddle into the ocean and hunt for whales, seals, and walruses to use as food and clothing.
- The Aztecs were a famous group of Native Americans that lived in central Mexico and developed a highly complex society. The Aztecs successfully conquered many neighboring societies.
- Societies that trace their ancestry through the mother are known as matrilineal.
- Each Native American group created unique religious ceremonies, including celebrations of the New Year and holidays linked to nature and the patterns of the stars.
- Groups like the Iroquois used slash-and-burn agriculture, the practice of chopping and burning down trees on a portion of land in order to clear it out so that crops can be planted.
- A wise man named Deganawida advised the five Iroquois nations located in the north to join together as an alliance. The alliance of these five tribes created the Iroquois League. 1.3 Societies of West Africa: - Ghana, a kingdom in West Africa, used camels to carry materials (specifically salt and gold) across the vast Sahara desert to the Mediterranean coast. - Many of the traders that came to Ghana from North Africa were Muslims, followers of the religion of Islam. Muslims worship a God named Allah, pray five times a day, and make pilgrimages to the holy city of Mecca. As more traders came to Ghana, Islam began to spread into western Africa.
- In the 1200s, the kingdom of Mali took over the territory previously held by Ghana.
- In the mid-1400s, the kingdom of Songhai separated from Mali. 1.4 Societies of Europe: - The European Middle Ages began after the Western Roman Empire was conquered by barbarian tribes in the late 400s and lasted until the 1300s.
- During the 800s to 1000s, Vikings began pillaging and destroying European villages. To protect themselves the Europeans turned to feudalism, a political system in which a king allows certain wealthy lords to rule over sections of land that belong to his kingdom. In return, the lords protect the land and serve in the king’s military.
- Along with feudalism, Europeans developed the manor system, in which the lords’ land was divided into smaller sections, called manors, which were farmed by serfs. Serfs were landless peasants who were forced to farm on the manors in return for protection from the Vikings and other attackers.
- The Roman Catholic Church also gained power and influence by aiding the sick, punishing criminals, and collecting taxes (tasks that were previously fulfilled by the Roman government).
- Many European Christians were angry that Muslims were living in the Holy Land, the place where Jesus had lived. As a result, Christians launched the Crusades, a series of wars to retake the Holy Land. Christians failed to retake the land, but the war allowed trade to take place between Europe, Asia, Italy, and the Middle East.
- The growth of trade and towns led to a decline in feudalism, as many serfs left the manors in favor of town life. A deadly disease known as the bubonic plague swept across Europe, killing ¼ of the population and reducing the number of peasants.
- The lords lost power, but townspeople began to support kings because of their large and powerful armies. Kings were better at protecting their citizens and maintaining order.
- Italy, which was thriving because of trade, became the center of the Renaissance, a time of increased interest in art and learning that took place from 1300-1600 and spread throughout Europe.
- People began to study history, philosophy, literature, and science.
- In 1455, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, a machine that could print books. Because books no longer had to be copied by hand, many more people could gain access to them.
- In the early 1500s the Reformation began, a movement to correct the problems of corruption within the Catholic Church. As a result, the Church split into two groups: the Catholics and the Protestants.
- As trade increased, merchants discovered how to calculate profit by subtracting their costs from their income. Italian merchants made huge profits because of their close access to Asian goods. 1.5: Early European Explorers - A navigator plans the course of a ship.
- The Portuguese developed a ship called a caravel that had both square and triangular sails, and was an improvement on previous ships.
- Portugal’s prince, “Henry the Navigator”, sponsored expeditions to send ships from Portugal to Asia by traveling around the tip of southern Africa. By taking this route, the Portuguese could establish a trading route with Asia that didn’t rely on the help of the Italians or the Muslims.
- An Italian sailor named Christopher Columbus thought he could find a faster route to Asia, but Portugal’s king doubted him. Columbus was forced to ask Spain, Portugal’s biggest rival, to finance his mission. Spain eventually agreed, and Columbus set sail in 1492.
- Columbus eventually reached an island in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of North America. However, Columbus mistakenly believed he had reached southeast Asia, where he thought he would find valuable spices.
- Columbus left 39 men on this island he had discovered, and returned to Spain to report on his journey. He made several trips back to the Caribbean, but he never found the riches that he had expected.
- After Columbus's death in 1506, Europeans finally realized that Columbus had found an entirely new and unexplored land: the Americas.
Chapter 2 Review 2.1: Spain Claims an Empire
- In 1493, the rulers of Spain and Portugal wanted to decide who would control the new lands that explorers were discovering in the Americas. Both countries signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which created an imaginary line separating the new lands into two pieces.
- Europeans had three main goals for exploring the new lands: o Spreading Christianity o Expanding their empires o Getting rich
- People known as missionaries traveled to new lands to try to convert people to Christianity.
- European countries followed an economic policy known as mercantilism: countries like Spain would export crops and supplies to colonies in the new world, and the colonies would send back gold and silver. The goal of mercantilism was for each country to export more goods than it imported. - Amerigo Vespucci was one of the first explorers after Columbus to explore the new world. Vespucci explored the world so thoroughly that it actually gained its name, “America”, from him. - Vasco Nunez Balboa was the first European explorer to reach the Pacific Ocean, and Ferdinand Magellan was the first to sail across it.
- Spanish conquistadors (conquerors) were soldiers who traveled to the Americas to claim land for Spain. - Hernando Cortez was one of the first conquistadors. He was able to defeat the Aztec empire, led by the emperor Montezuma.
- Francisco Pizarro was the conquistador who conquered the Incan Empire. - Despite being heavily outnumbered by their opponents, the Spanish were successful in conquering their adversaries for four reasons: o Spaniards brought diseases to America that killed millions of Native Americans o The Spanish had guns and superior weaponry o Spain made alliances with native groups that disliked the Aztecs and the Incas o The conquistadors acted brutally towards the natives
1.2: European Competition in North America - Explorers from England, France and the Netherlands tried to find a way to sail through North America on their way to China. None were successful, but a few made notable discoveries: o Henry Hudson (Dutch) discovered the Hudson River in 1609. o John Cabot (English) reached Newfoundland, Canada in 1497. o Giovanni da Verrazzano (French) searched the North American coast, but could not find a way through. o Jacques Cartier (French) discovered the St. Lawrence River.
- Spain was angered by French and English attempts to claim land in North America. Spain, a Catholic country, also disliked that France and England were primarily Protestant. - The Spanish king Phillip II sent the Spanish Armada, a powerful fleet of ships, to conquer England in 1588. England’s navy was heavily outnumbered, but its smaller and quicker ships outmaneuvered the Spanish fleet. Eventually a large storm crippled the rest of the Armada, and England declared victory.
- The defeat of the Spanish Armada had two important effects: o England remained independent and proved that it could defend itself o Spain’s image suffered a severe blow, and other countries realized that Spain could be defeated.
- Once France and the Netherlands realized that there was no path to Asia through North America, they began to establish colonies. - Samuel de Champlain established the first permanent French settlement in North America in the territory of Quebec. The colony, known as New France, became a thriving center of trade. - The Dutch established the colonies of New Netherland and New Amsterdam in present-day New York. 1.3: The Spanish and Native Americans: - Spain was much more successful in establishing colonies in North America than any other European country, and by 1700 Spain controlled most of North America.
- Spain controlled their land in America by splitting it into two provinces called viceroyalties, and by building roads that could quickly transport troops and supplies.
- Colonists received encomiendas, grants of Native American labor, to help produce more goods. Spanish rulers also created haciendas, large farms where Native Americans worked to grow crops in order to provide food for the colonies.
- Spain placed power and control over the colonies in the hands of just a few people, and people of Spanish ancestry were given more power and respect than those of Native American ancestry.
- Spanish Catholics built missions, settlements that were designed to convert Native Americans to Christianity. Some Native Americans learned valuable skills in missions, but they became angry as missionaries tried to replace their native religions.
- In 1680 a man named Popé led a rebellion against the Spanish, but eventually Spain defeated the uprising.
- Native Americans were forced to work on plantations, large farms that raised cash crops like sugar that could be sent back to Spain.
- The Spaniards abused the Native Americans and treated them as little more than animals. One of the few Spaniards who protested the abuse of Native Americans was Bartolome de Las Casas.
- The transfer of plants, animals, and diseases between the Eastern and Western hemispheres is known as the Columbian Exhange.
- Europeans brought livestock to the Americas and received new crops like potatoes and corn in return. However, Europeans also brought deadly diseases that killed millions of Native Americans. 1.4: Beginnings of Slavery in the Americas: - By the 1600s, slavery was firmly established in the Americas.
- Europeans had used slaves to work on plantations since the 1100s, and they continued to use them in their American colonies. However, Native Americans were too weakened by disease to perform the work required on plantations. Instead, the Spanish and Portuguese used African slaves, who were immune to European diseases.
- European slave traders and West African kings collaborated to enslave Africans and ship them to the Americas. The removal of Africans from their native countries is known as the African Diaspora.
- The journey from Africa to the Americas was called the middle passage. Approximately 12 million Africans were forced on this journey across the Atlantic Ocean and subjected to brutal treatment. About 2 million Africans died during the journey.
- Africans and Native Americans often joined together to rebel against their enslavement. In response the Spanish passed laws known as slave codes that punished slaves and kept them in bondage.
- The enslavement of black Africans led to racism, as Europeans began to associate dark skin color with inferiority.
- The slave trade lasted from the early 1500s to the mid-1800s.
Chapter 3 Review 3.1: Early Colonies Have Mixed Success - After England defeated the Spanish Armada 1588, it decided to begin building colonies in America.
- The first colonies in Roanoke, Virginia and Sagadahoc, Maine failed because of a lack of food and poor relations with Native American tribes.
- The English realized that they would need a better way to raise money in order to pay for the costs of a new colony. Their solution was called a joint-stock company: a group of investors would agree to provide money upfront and would share the profits (or losses) of the colony.
- King James I of England granted charters, government contracts that granted the right to establish a colony.
- The first permanent English settlement was named Jamestown, in honor of King James. The colonists suffered hardship and disease until John Smith took over in 1608. Smith disciplined the colonists and established trade with local Native American tribes.
- Tobacco became a major cash crop in Jamestown, but there weren’t enough laborers to tend the fields. Workers who were eager to come to America, but couldn’t pay for the journey, became indentured servants: landowners in America would agree to pay for the workers’ trip, and in return the workers would agree to work for the landowner for a certain number of years.
- In 1619 the colonists established the House of Burgesses, a group of elected representatives that allowed the colonists to have a voice in the British government.
- The Jamestown colonists often fought with local Native American tribes over land. In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon demanded that Jamestown launch a war against the Native Americans in order to confiscate their land. When Governor William Berkley refused, a group of colonists launched Bacon’s Rebellion.
- Bacon and his followers launched a brief attack against Jamestown until Bacon died and the rebellion ended. In response, the House of Burgesses passed a law that decreased the amount of power that the Governor had over the colonies. 3.2: New England Colonies - The Pilgrims were a group that disagreed with the Church of England. They eventually fled to America to break free from religious oppression.
- Before arriving in America, the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact. By signing it, they agreed to obey certain laws for the good of the colony.
- Between 1630 and 1640, a religious group called the Puritans also left England to escape religious oppression. About 20,000 Puritans came to America in what is known as the Great Migration.
- The Puritans established individual towns focused on strict adherence to religious practices. Everyone had to attend church and maintain a strict work ethic.
- Thomas Hooker established a new settlement in the Connecticut Valley, and wrote the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, one of the first written constitutions in America. - Roger Williams established a colony in Rhode Island that guaranteed religious freedom and the separation of church and state.
- Anne Hutchinson was forced to leave Massachusetts after she challenged the authority of the Puritan church. - The colonists and the Native Americans had different views on land and property: the colonists viewed land as belonging to individuals, while the Native American thought land belonged to everyone.
- In 1675, the Puritans launched King Philip’s War in order to claim the Native Americans’ land for themselves. Many Native Americans were killed, and the Puritans expanded their land holdings. 3.3: Founding the Middle and Southern Colonies - The Middle Colonies were New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. People from many different countries and from many different religions came to these colonies.
- In order to attract new settlers to their colonies, the Dutch established the patroon system. A patroon was someone who brought 50 settlers to New Netherland, and as a reward received a large land grant. - William Penngained control of a large piece of land in America that came to be known as Pennsylvania. He allowed the Quakers, a religious group focused on peace and tolerance, to settle there, and established religious freedom for all. - The Southern Colonies were Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia. Their three main crops were tobacco, rice, and indigo. The colonists would eventually begin importing slaves to farm these crops.
- A royal colony was a colony that was governed by a king. - James Oglethorpe founded the colony of Georgia as a safe place for debtors.
Chapter 4 Review 4.1: New England – Commerce and Religion
- As the population of England’s colonies in North America rapidly increased, the colonies formed three regions: o New England had the largest population. o The Middle Colonies attracted immigrants from throughout Europe. o The Southern Colonies used enslaved Africans to work their plantations.
- The Backcountry ran along the western edge of all three regions.
- Most farmers in New England practiced subsistence farming: they produced only enough food for themselves and their family.
- The triangular trade was a trade route connecting New England, Africa, and the West Indies: o New Englanders sent rum and iron to Africa o Africa sent slaves and gold to the West Indies o The West Indies sent sugar and molasses to New England
- New England made enormous profits by trading. In order to share in these profits, in 1651 England passed the Navigation Acts: these laws put restrictions on trading and gave England more power over New England’s trade.
- The colonists avoided these restrictions by smuggling: importing and exporting goods illegally.
- Slaves were not common in New England, but some slaves were used as servants, cooks, or gardeners.
- Puritanism began to decline in the 1700s as new religions flourished in America and economic success caused the colonists to lose their focus on religion. 4.2: The Middle Colonies – Farms and Cities - In addition to being tolerant of different religions, the climate of the Middle Colonies allowed settlers to grow cash crops, crops that were raised to be sold for money.
- A gristmill was a set of heavy stones that crushed grains and turned them into flour or meal. The colonists used these to produce large quantities of bread.
- The many different immigrant groups that came to the Middle Colonies contributed to the region’s diversity (variety) of people. - Artisans were craftspeople who made things like glass, furniture, and kitchenware.
- Conestoga wagons were built by the Germans, and were well suited to traveling on dirt roads and going up or down hills. 4.3: The Southern Colonies – Plantations and Slavery - Unlike the other regions, the Southern Colonies did not have many large cities. The climate was ideal for plantation crops like rice and tobacco, and most plantations were self-sufficient.
- Southerners began to import African slaves in the late 1600s, and by 1750 enslaved Africans made up 40% of the South’s population.
- Some farmers grew indigo, a plant that produces a deep blue dye.
- Plantation owners that owned many slaves could grow more crops than anyone else. These rich planters made up a powerful upper class in the South.
- Slaves on plantations were subjected to brutal working conditions. As a result, many tried to resist their enslavement by organizing rebellions.
- Planters enacted strict rules to prevent slaves from meeting with free blacks, or from leaving their plantation without permission.
Chapter 5 Review 5.1: Early American Culture
- In England, fewer than 5% of people owned land. However, in the colonies, land was plentiful. Owning land gave colonists political rights and prosperity.
- Women mainly performed jobs in the house (cooking, sewing, etc). However, women had few rights: they couldn’t vote or hold office, and the money they earned belonged to their husband.
- Families were often very large, and children were expected to perform work. At 11 years old, many boys became apprentices, where they would learn a job from an experienced craftsman.
- Most children were taught to read so that they could understand the Bible, but only the wealthier families sent their children to private schools to learn writing and arithmetic.
- In the 1730s and 1740s, a religious movement called the Great Awakening began in the colonies. Colonists regained their passion for religion, and somewhere between 20,000 and 50,000 people became church members. - John Edwards was a preacher famous for his terrifying sermons that spoke of a wrathful God. - The Enlightenment was a movement that emphasized reason and science as the paths to knowledge. Benjamin Franklin was a famous Enlightenment figure. - John Locke, an English Enlightenment figure, argued that kings did not have a God-given right to rule, and said that every person has natural rights to life, liberty, and property. These ideas were central to the American Revolution later in the 1700s. 5.2: Roots of Representative Government - In 1215 England established the Magna Carta, a document that limited the power of the English king and granted certain basic rights to the English people.
- One of the most important English rights was the right to elect representatives to England’s chief lawmaking body, Parliament.
- The English colonists had little power to affect the laws set down by Parliament. King James II also sent royal governors, like governor Edmund Andros, to crack down on lawbreaking in the colonies.
- In 1688, King James II was chased out of the country and replaced by James’s daughter Mary and her husband William. This transfer of power was called the Glorious Revolution.
- William and Mary interfered very little with colonial affairs, and the colonists regained the rights that they had lost under King James. 5.3: The French and Indian War - Both the English and the French made alliances with Native American trading partners. As a result, England and France became involved in wars between tribes and began to fight against each other.
- The French and Indian War lasted from 1754-1763 and decided once and for all which country would control the northeastern portion of North America.
- The Albany Plan of Union was Benjamin Franklin’s plan for the English colonies to band together for defense.
- The Battle of Quebec in 1758 was the turning point of the war, as the English ambushed the French and gained control of Canada entirely.
- In 1763 the Treaty of Paris ended the war and granted Britain all of North America east of the Mississippi River. This marked the end of French power in North America.
- The British took over the forts that the French had given up, but they refused to give supplies to the Native Americans as the French had.
- In 1763 the Native Americans responded in Pontiac’s Rebellion by attacking settlers and destroying every British fort west of the Appalachians.
- The British eventually defeated the uprising, but they realized that defending western lands would be costly. As a result the British government issued the Proclamation of 1763, which forbade colonists from settling west of the Appalachians.
- The colonists were angry at the British for preventing them from settling in the west. The British were also angry at the colonists, who refused to pay for their own defense. This hostility helped cause the war for American independence.
Chapter 6 Review 6.1: Tighter British Control
- During the French and Indian War, Britain and the colonies had fought side by side. But after the war, Britain began to impose strict rules on the colonies.
- The Proclamation of 1763 prevented the colonists from settling in the fertile land west of the Appalachian Mountains, but many colonists ignored it. - King George III, Britain’s king, wanted to enforce the proclamation in order to please Britain’s Native American allies. To do this Britain passed the Quartering Act, which forced the colonists to allow British soldiers to stay in their homes.
- Britain had gone into debt during the war, and they wanted to force the colonies to help them pay it back. The Sugar Act forced the colonists to pay a tax on sugar, molasses, and other products that were shipped into the colonies. - The Stamp Act required all legal and commercial documents to carry an official stamp showing that a tax has been paid.
- Colonial leaders like Patrick Henry were outraged by the taxes. The colonists believed it was unfair that the British Parliament could impose taxes on them when they didn’t have any representatives in Parliament to voice their concerns (“No taxation without representation!”)
- Colonial merchants organized a boycott (refusal to buy) of British goods to protest the Stamp Act.
- Secret societies, like the Sons of Liberty, organized violent protests against the Stamp Act and British customs officials. - Britain finally repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, but they weren’t yet willing to give up their control of the colonies. 6.2: Colonial Resistance Grows - In 1767 Britain passed the Townshend Acts as another way to tax goods shipped into the colonies. Colonists immediately began to protest the new taxes.
- In Boston, Samuel Adams organized another boycott of British goods. He also formed committees of correspondence: groups in the colonies that exchanged letters about colonial affairs.
- Britain sent soldiers to Boston to help calm the protestors. In 1770, a fight broke out between the protestors and the British soldiers. Five colonists were killed. In the colonies, the incident became known as the Boston Massacre.
- Britain repealed the Townshend Acts, but replaced them with the Tea Act, which taxed tea. Once again, the colonists protested.
- In 1773, a group of colonists boarded three tea ships in Boston Harbor and destroyed the tea on board. The incident came to be known as the Boston Tea Party. - Britain demanded to be repaid for the cost of the destroyed tea and demanded that the criminals involved be brought to trial. 6.3: The Road to Lexington and Concord - A militia is a group of armed civilians pledged to defend their community.
- In order to punish the colonists in Boston, Britain passed the Intolerable Acts. Other colonies rallied to support Boston and respond to Britain’s actions.
- In 1774 the colonies met at the First Continental Congress and agreed to ban all trade with Britain until the Intolerable Acts were repealed. - In 1775, the Revolutionary War officially began. Colonists split into two groups: loyalists supported the British, while patriots sided with the rebels. 6.4: Declaring Independence - On May 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress met. George Washington, Ben Franklin, and other famous delegates agreed to form the Continental Army, with Washington as its commanding general.
- The colonists were fairly successful early on, but Washington knew that they didn’t have the training or the weaponry to match the powerful British army. - Thomas Jefferson led a committee of delegates in creating America’s Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1776 the Continental Congress officially accepted Jefferson’s document and declared America’s independence. - The Declaration stated that every person was born with inalienable rights to life and liberty, and that any government that disregarded these rights lost its right to govern.
1.1 Crossing to the Americas:
- Archaeologists, scientists who study the objects (artifacts) that past societies have left behind, help us understand how the first people arrived in America.
- The first Americans migrated from Asia by crossing a land bridge called the Beringia that connected Asia to North America.
- New societies in America developed their own culture, a way of life shared by people with similar beliefs and customs.
- Societies learned how to domesticate plants and animals, breeding them to meet human needs.
- As people became better at planting new crops, they could create permanent villages. These villages eventually grew into larger civilizations, complex cultures that meet five key conditions:
o They have cities where trading takes place
o They keep records
o People have different specialized jobs
o Government and religion are organized
o People use advanced tools
- Villages used underground canals to bring water to crops that were hundreds of miles away from the nearest river, a process known as irrigation.
- Different villages came together to trade crops and other objects. As a result, societies were exposed to various different cultures.
1.2 Societies of North America:
- By the year 1500, there were hundreds of different cultures and thousands of languages in North America.
- Each cultural group created new technology: tools and knowledge that helped them adapt to their environment.
- Some groups lived on the coasts of Alaska, where open areas known as tundra remain covered in snow and ice for most of the year.
- These groups used small boats known as kayaks to paddle into the ocean and hunt for whales, seals, and walruses to use as food and clothing.
- The Aztecs were a famous group of Native Americans that lived in central Mexico and developed a highly complex society. The Aztecs successfully conquered many neighboring societies.
- Societies that trace their ancestry through the mother are known as matrilineal.
- Each Native American group created unique religious ceremonies, including celebrations of the New Year and holidays linked to nature and the patterns of the stars.
- Groups like the Iroquois used slash-and-burn agriculture, the practice of chopping and burning down trees on a portion of land in order to clear it out so that crops can be planted.
- A wise man named Deganawida advised the five Iroquois nations located in the north to join together as an alliance. The alliance of these five tribes created the Iroquois League.
1.3 Societies of West Africa:
- Ghana, a kingdom in West Africa, used camels to carry materials (specifically salt and gold) across the vast Sahara desert to the Mediterranean coast.
- Many of the traders that came to Ghana from North Africa were Muslims, followers of the religion of Islam. Muslims worship a God named Allah, pray five times a day, and make pilgrimages to the holy city of Mecca. As more traders came to Ghana, Islam began to spread into western Africa.
- In the 1200s, the kingdom of Mali took over the territory previously held by Ghana.
- In the mid-1400s, the kingdom of Songhai separated from Mali.
1.4 Societies of Europe:
- The European Middle Ages began after the Western Roman Empire was conquered by barbarian tribes in the late 400s and lasted until the 1300s.
- During the 800s to 1000s, Vikings began pillaging and destroying European villages. To protect themselves the Europeans turned to feudalism, a political system in which a king allows certain wealthy lords to rule over sections of land that belong to his kingdom. In return, the lords protect the land and serve in the king’s military.
- Along with feudalism, Europeans developed the manor system, in which the lords’ land was divided into smaller sections, called manors, which were farmed by serfs. Serfs were landless peasants who were forced to farm on the manors in return for protection from the Vikings and other attackers.
- The Roman Catholic Church also gained power and influence by aiding the sick, punishing criminals, and collecting taxes (tasks that were previously fulfilled by the Roman government).
- Many European Christians were angry that Muslims were living in the Holy Land, the place where Jesus had lived. As a result, Christians launched the Crusades, a series of wars to retake the Holy Land. Christians failed to retake the land, but the war allowed trade to take place between Europe, Asia, Italy, and the Middle East.
- The growth of trade and towns led to a decline in feudalism, as many serfs left the manors in favor of town life. A deadly disease known as the bubonic plague swept across Europe, killing ¼ of the population and reducing the number of peasants.
- The lords lost power, but townspeople began to support kings because of their large and powerful armies. Kings were better at protecting their citizens and maintaining order.
- Italy, which was thriving because of trade, became the center of the Renaissance, a time of increased interest in art and learning that took place from 1300-1600 and spread throughout Europe.
- People began to study history, philosophy, literature, and science.
- In 1455, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, a machine that could print books. Because books no longer had to be copied by hand, many more people could gain access to them.
- In the early 1500s the Reformation began, a movement to correct the problems of corruption within the Catholic Church. As a result, the Church split into two groups: the Catholics and the Protestants.
- As trade increased, merchants discovered how to calculate profit by subtracting their costs from their income. Italian merchants made huge profits because of their close access to Asian goods.
1.5: Early European Explorers
- A navigator plans the course of a ship.
- The Portuguese developed a ship called a caravel that had both square and triangular sails, and was an improvement on previous ships.
- Portugal’s prince, “Henry the Navigator”, sponsored expeditions to send ships from Portugal to Asia by traveling around the tip of southern Africa. By taking this route, the Portuguese could establish a trading route with Asia that didn’t rely on the help of the Italians or the Muslims.
- An Italian sailor named Christopher Columbus thought he could find a faster route to Asia, but Portugal’s king doubted him. Columbus was forced to ask Spain, Portugal’s biggest rival, to finance his mission. Spain eventually agreed, and Columbus set sail in 1492.
- Columbus eventually reached an island in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of North America. However, Columbus mistakenly believed he had reached southeast Asia, where he thought he would find valuable spices.
- Columbus left 39 men on this island he had discovered, and returned to Spain to report on his journey. He made several trips back to the Caribbean, but he never found the riches that he had expected.
- After Columbus's death in 1506, Europeans finally realized that Columbus had found an entirely new and unexplored land: the Americas.
Chapter 2 Review
2.1: Spain Claims an Empire
- In 1493, the rulers of Spain and Portugal wanted to decide who would control the new lands that explorers were discovering in the Americas. Both countries signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which created an imaginary line separating the new lands into two pieces.
- Europeans had three main goals for exploring the new lands:
o Spreading Christianity
o Expanding their empires
o Getting rich
- People known as missionaries traveled to new lands to try to convert people to Christianity.
- European countries followed an economic policy known as mercantilism: countries like Spain would export crops and supplies to colonies in the new world, and the colonies would send back gold and silver. The goal of mercantilism was for each country to export more goods than it imported.
- Amerigo Vespucci was one of the first explorers after Columbus to explore the new world. Vespucci explored the world so thoroughly that it actually gained its name, “America”, from him.
- Vasco Nunez Balboa was the first European explorer to reach the Pacific Ocean, and Ferdinand Magellan was the first to sail across it.
- Spanish conquistadors (conquerors) were soldiers who traveled to the Americas to claim land for Spain.
- Hernando Cortez was one of the first conquistadors. He was able to defeat the Aztec empire, led by the emperor Montezuma.
- Francisco Pizarro was the conquistador who conquered the Incan Empire.
- Despite being heavily outnumbered by their opponents, the Spanish were successful in conquering their adversaries for four reasons:
o Spaniards brought diseases to America that killed millions of Native Americans
o The Spanish had guns and superior weaponry
o Spain made alliances with native groups that disliked the Aztecs and the Incas
o The conquistadors acted brutally towards the natives
1.2: European Competition in North America
- Explorers from England, France and the Netherlands tried to find a way to sail through North America on their way to China. None were successful, but a few made notable discoveries:
o Henry Hudson (Dutch) discovered the Hudson River in 1609.
o John Cabot (English) reached Newfoundland, Canada in 1497.
o Giovanni da Verrazzano (French) searched the North American coast, but could not find a way through.
o Jacques Cartier (French) discovered the St. Lawrence River.
- Spain was angered by French and English attempts to claim land in North America. Spain, a Catholic country, also disliked that France and England were primarily Protestant.
- The Spanish king Phillip II sent the Spanish Armada, a powerful fleet of ships, to conquer England in 1588. England’s navy was heavily outnumbered, but its smaller and quicker ships outmaneuvered the Spanish fleet. Eventually a large storm crippled the rest of the Armada, and England declared victory.
- The defeat of the Spanish Armada had two important effects:
o England remained independent and proved that it could defend itself
o Spain’s image suffered a severe blow, and other countries realized that Spain could be defeated.
- Once France and the Netherlands realized that there was no path to Asia through North America, they began to establish colonies.
- Samuel de Champlain established the first permanent French settlement in North America in the territory of Quebec. The colony, known as New France, became a thriving center of trade.
- The Dutch established the colonies of New Netherland and New Amsterdam in present-day New York.
1.3: The Spanish and Native Americans:
- Spain was much more successful in establishing colonies in North America than any other European country, and by 1700 Spain controlled most of North America.
- Spain controlled their land in America by splitting it into two provinces called viceroyalties, and by building roads that could quickly transport troops and supplies.
- Colonists received encomiendas, grants of Native American labor, to help produce more goods. Spanish rulers also created haciendas, large farms where Native Americans worked to grow crops in order to provide food for the colonies.
- Spain placed power and control over the colonies in the hands of just a few people, and people of Spanish ancestry were given more power and respect than those of Native American ancestry.
- Spanish Catholics built missions, settlements that were designed to convert Native Americans to Christianity. Some Native Americans learned valuable skills in missions, but they became angry as missionaries tried to replace their native religions.
- In 1680 a man named Popé led a rebellion against the Spanish, but eventually Spain defeated the uprising.
- Native Americans were forced to work on plantations, large farms that raised cash crops like sugar that could be sent back to Spain.
- The Spaniards abused the Native Americans and treated them as little more than animals. One of the few Spaniards who protested the abuse of Native Americans was Bartolome de Las Casas.
- The transfer of plants, animals, and diseases between the Eastern and Western hemispheres is known as the Columbian Exhange.
- Europeans brought livestock to the Americas and received new crops like potatoes and corn in return. However, Europeans also brought deadly diseases that killed millions of Native Americans.
1.4: Beginnings of Slavery in the Americas:
- By the 1600s, slavery was firmly established in the Americas.
- Europeans had used slaves to work on plantations since the 1100s, and they continued to use them in their American colonies. However, Native Americans were too weakened by disease to perform the work required on plantations. Instead, the Spanish and Portuguese used African slaves, who were immune to European diseases.
- European slave traders and West African kings collaborated to enslave Africans and ship them to the Americas. The removal of Africans from their native countries is known as the African Diaspora.
- The journey from Africa to the Americas was called the middle passage. Approximately 12 million Africans were forced on this journey across the Atlantic Ocean and subjected to brutal treatment. About 2 million Africans died during the journey.
- Africans and Native Americans often joined together to rebel against their enslavement. In response the Spanish passed laws known as slave codes that punished slaves and kept them in bondage.
- The enslavement of black Africans led to racism, as Europeans began to associate dark skin color with inferiority.
- The slave trade lasted from the early 1500s to the mid-1800s.
Chapter 3 Review
3.1: Early Colonies Have Mixed Success
- After England defeated the Spanish Armada 1588, it decided to begin building colonies in America.
- The first colonies in Roanoke, Virginia and Sagadahoc, Maine failed because of a lack of food and poor relations with Native American tribes.
- The English realized that they would need a better way to raise money in order to pay for the costs of a new colony. Their solution was called a joint-stock company: a group of investors would agree to provide money upfront and would share the profits (or losses) of the colony.
- King James I of England granted charters, government contracts that granted the right to establish a colony.
- The first permanent English settlement was named Jamestown, in honor of King James. The colonists suffered hardship and disease until John Smith took over in 1608. Smith disciplined the colonists and established trade with local Native American tribes.
- Tobacco became a major cash crop in Jamestown, but there weren’t enough laborers to tend the fields. Workers who were eager to come to America, but couldn’t pay for the journey, became indentured servants: landowners in America would agree to pay for the workers’ trip, and in return the workers would agree to work for the landowner for a certain number of years.
- In 1619 the colonists established the House of Burgesses, a group of elected representatives that allowed the colonists to have a voice in the British government.
- The Jamestown colonists often fought with local Native American tribes over land. In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon demanded that Jamestown launch a war against the Native Americans in order to confiscate their land. When Governor William Berkley refused, a group of colonists launched Bacon’s Rebellion.
- Bacon and his followers launched a brief attack against Jamestown until Bacon died and the rebellion ended. In response, the House of Burgesses passed a law that decreased the amount of power that the Governor had over the colonies.
3.2: New England Colonies
- The Pilgrims were a group that disagreed with the Church of England. They eventually fled to America to break free from religious oppression.
- Before arriving in America, the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact. By signing it, they agreed to obey certain laws for the good of the colony.
- Between 1630 and 1640, a religious group called the Puritans also left England to escape religious oppression. About 20,000 Puritans came to America in what is known as the Great Migration.
- The Puritans established individual towns focused on strict adherence to religious practices. Everyone had to attend church and maintain a strict work ethic.
- Thomas Hooker established a new settlement in the Connecticut Valley, and wrote the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, one of the first written constitutions in America.
- Roger Williams established a colony in Rhode Island that guaranteed religious freedom and the separation of church and state.
- Anne Hutchinson was forced to leave Massachusetts after she challenged the authority of the Puritan church.
- The colonists and the Native Americans had different views on land and property: the colonists viewed land as belonging to individuals, while the Native American thought land belonged to everyone.
- In 1675, the Puritans launched King Philip’s War in order to claim the Native Americans’ land for themselves. Many Native Americans were killed, and the Puritans expanded their land holdings.
3.3: Founding the Middle and Southern Colonies
- The Middle Colonies were New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. People from many different countries and from many different religions came to these colonies.
- In order to attract new settlers to their colonies, the Dutch established the patroon system. A patroon was someone who brought 50 settlers to New Netherland, and as a reward received a large land grant.
- William Penn gained control of a large piece of land in America that came to be known as Pennsylvania. He allowed the Quakers, a religious group focused on peace and tolerance, to settle there, and established religious freedom for all.
- The Southern Colonies were Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia. Their three main crops were tobacco, rice, and indigo. The colonists would eventually begin importing slaves to farm these crops.
- A royal colony was a colony that was governed by a king.
- James Oglethorpe founded the colony of Georgia as a safe place for debtors.
Chapter 4 Review
4.1: New England – Commerce and Religion
- As the population of England’s colonies in North America rapidly increased, the colonies formed three regions:
o New England had the largest population.
o The Middle Colonies attracted immigrants from throughout Europe.
o The Southern Colonies used enslaved Africans to work their plantations.
- The Backcountry ran along the western edge of all three regions.
- Most farmers in New England practiced subsistence farming: they produced only enough food for themselves and their family.
- The triangular trade was a trade route connecting New England, Africa, and the West Indies:
o New Englanders sent rum and iron to Africa
o Africa sent slaves and gold to the West Indies
o The West Indies sent sugar and molasses to New England
- New England made enormous profits by trading. In order to share in these profits, in 1651 England passed the Navigation Acts: these laws put restrictions on trading and gave England more power over New England’s trade.
- The colonists avoided these restrictions by smuggling: importing and exporting goods illegally.
- Slaves were not common in New England, but some slaves were used as servants, cooks, or gardeners.
- Puritanism began to decline in the 1700s as new religions flourished in America and economic success caused the colonists to lose their focus on religion.
4.2: The Middle Colonies – Farms and Cities
- In addition to being tolerant of different religions, the climate of the Middle Colonies allowed settlers to grow cash crops, crops that were raised to be sold for money.
- A gristmill was a set of heavy stones that crushed grains and turned them into flour or meal. The colonists used these to produce large quantities of bread.
- The many different immigrant groups that came to the Middle Colonies contributed to the region’s diversity (variety) of people.
- Artisans were craftspeople who made things like glass, furniture, and kitchenware.
- Conestoga wagons were built by the Germans, and were well suited to traveling on dirt roads and going up or down hills.
4.3: The Southern Colonies – Plantations and Slavery
- Unlike the other regions, the Southern Colonies did not have many large cities. The climate was ideal for plantation crops like rice and tobacco, and most plantations were self-sufficient.
- Southerners began to import African slaves in the late 1600s, and by 1750 enslaved Africans made up 40% of the South’s population.
- Some farmers grew indigo, a plant that produces a deep blue dye.
- Plantation owners that owned many slaves could grow more crops than anyone else. These rich planters made up a powerful upper class in the South.
- Slaves on plantations were subjected to brutal working conditions. As a result, many tried to resist their enslavement by organizing rebellions.
- Planters enacted strict rules to prevent slaves from meeting with free blacks, or from leaving their plantation without permission.
Chapter 5 Review
5.1: Early American Culture
- In England, fewer than 5% of people owned land. However, in the colonies, land was plentiful. Owning land gave colonists political rights and prosperity.
- Women mainly performed jobs in the house (cooking, sewing, etc). However, women had few rights: they couldn’t vote or hold office, and the money they earned belonged to their husband.
- Families were often very large, and children were expected to perform work. At 11 years old, many boys became apprentices, where they would learn a job from an experienced craftsman.
- Most children were taught to read so that they could understand the Bible, but only the wealthier families sent their children to private schools to learn writing and arithmetic.
- In the 1730s and 1740s, a religious movement called the Great Awakening began in the colonies. Colonists regained their passion for religion, and somewhere between 20,000 and 50,000 people became church members.
- John Edwards was a preacher famous for his terrifying sermons that spoke of a wrathful God.
- The Enlightenment was a movement that emphasized reason and science as the paths to knowledge. Benjamin Franklin was a famous Enlightenment figure.
- John Locke, an English Enlightenment figure, argued that kings did not have a God-given right to rule, and said that every person has natural rights to life, liberty, and property. These ideas were central to the American Revolution later in the 1700s.
5.2: Roots of Representative Government
- In 1215 England established the Magna Carta, a document that limited the power of the English king and granted certain basic rights to the English people.
- One of the most important English rights was the right to elect representatives to England’s chief lawmaking body, Parliament.
- The English colonists had little power to affect the laws set down by Parliament. King James II also sent royal governors, like governor Edmund Andros, to crack down on lawbreaking in the colonies.
- In 1688, King James II was chased out of the country and replaced by James’s daughter Mary and her husband William. This transfer of power was called the Glorious Revolution.
- William and Mary interfered very little with colonial affairs, and the colonists regained the rights that they had lost under King James.
5.3: The French and Indian War
- Both the English and the French made alliances with Native American trading partners. As a result, England and France became involved in wars between tribes and began to fight against each other.
- The French and Indian War lasted from 1754-1763 and decided once and for all which country would control the northeastern portion of North America.
- The Albany Plan of Union was Benjamin Franklin’s plan for the English colonies to band together for defense.
- The Battle of Quebec in 1758 was the turning point of the war, as the English ambushed the French and gained control of Canada entirely.
- In 1763 the Treaty of Paris ended the war and granted Britain all of North America east of the Mississippi River. This marked the end of French power in North America.
- The British took over the forts that the French had given up, but they refused to give supplies to the Native Americans as the French had.
- In 1763 the Native Americans responded in Pontiac’s Rebellion by attacking settlers and destroying every British fort west of the Appalachians.
- The British eventually defeated the uprising, but they realized that defending western lands would be costly. As a result the British government issued the Proclamation of 1763, which forbade colonists from settling west of the Appalachians.
- The colonists were angry at the British for preventing them from settling in the west. The British were also angry at the colonists, who refused to pay for their own defense. This hostility helped cause the war for American independence.
Chapter 6 Review
6.1: Tighter British Control
- During the French and Indian War, Britain and the colonies had fought side by side. But after the war, Britain began to impose strict rules on the colonies.
- The Proclamation of 1763 prevented the colonists from settling in the fertile land west of the Appalachian Mountains, but many colonists ignored it.
- King George III, Britain’s king, wanted to enforce the proclamation in order to please Britain’s Native American allies. To do this Britain passed the Quartering Act, which forced the colonists to allow British soldiers to stay in their homes.
- Britain had gone into debt during the war, and they wanted to force the colonies to help them pay it back. The Sugar Act forced the colonists to pay a tax on sugar, molasses, and other products that were shipped into the colonies.
- The Stamp Act required all legal and commercial documents to carry an official stamp showing that a tax has been paid.
- Colonial leaders like Patrick Henry were outraged by the taxes. The colonists believed it was unfair that the British Parliament could impose taxes on them when they didn’t have any representatives in Parliament to voice their concerns (“No taxation without representation!”)
- Colonial merchants organized a boycott (refusal to buy) of British goods to protest the Stamp Act.
- Secret societies, like the Sons of Liberty, organized violent protests against the Stamp Act and British customs officials.
- Britain finally repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, but they weren’t yet willing to give up their control of the colonies.
6.2: Colonial Resistance Grows
- In 1767 Britain passed the Townshend Acts as another way to tax goods shipped into the colonies. Colonists immediately began to protest the new taxes.
- In Boston, Samuel Adams organized another boycott of British goods. He also formed committees of correspondence: groups in the colonies that exchanged letters about colonial affairs.
- Britain sent soldiers to Boston to help calm the protestors. In 1770, a fight broke out between the protestors and the British soldiers. Five colonists were killed. In the colonies, the incident became known as the Boston Massacre.
- Britain repealed the Townshend Acts, but replaced them with the Tea Act, which taxed tea. Once again, the colonists protested.
- In 1773, a group of colonists boarded three tea ships in Boston Harbor and destroyed the tea on board. The incident came to be known as the Boston Tea Party.
- Britain demanded to be repaid for the cost of the destroyed tea and demanded that the criminals involved be brought to trial.
6.3: The Road to Lexington and Concord
- A militia is a group of armed civilians pledged to defend their community.
- In order to punish the colonists in Boston, Britain passed the Intolerable Acts. Other colonies rallied to support Boston and respond to Britain’s actions.
- In 1774 the colonies met at the First Continental Congress and agreed to ban all trade with Britain until the Intolerable Acts were repealed.
- In 1775, the Revolutionary War officially began. Colonists split into two groups: loyalists supported the British, while patriots sided with the rebels.
6.4: Declaring Independence
- On May 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress met. George Washington, Ben Franklin, and other famous delegates agreed to form the Continental Army, with Washington as its commanding general.
- The colonists were fairly successful early on, but Washington knew that they didn’t have the training or the weaponry to match the powerful British army.
- Thomas Jefferson led a committee of delegates in creating America’s Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1776 the Continental Congress officially accepted Jefferson’s document and declared America’s independence.
- The Declaration stated that every person was born with inalienable rights to life and liberty, and that any government that disregarded these rights lost its right to govern.